Inside the Fire
by lizfirestarter
Summary: Liz at age 11, has just exploded, destroying a half mile around her and killing 23 people. BPRD Director Trevor Broom asks Cpt. Jack Harkness to go find her and bring her to BPRD. Inspired by LJ User Captain flyboy 's fic, and Liz and Jack's AU TwitterRP


**_Characters_**_: Liz Sherman: age 11 / Cpt. Jack Harkness (lj user - captain_flyboy)_

**_Fandom_**_: Hellboy (Torchwood )_

**_Rating_**_: PG-13 (Death and Destruction)_

**_Setting_**_: Kansas City, Kansas._

**_AN_**_: Liz at age 11, has just exploded, destroying a half mile around her and killing 23 people. BPRD Director Trevor Broom asks Cpt. Jack Harkness to go find her and bring her to BPRD. Inspired by LJ User Captain_flyboy 's fic, and Liz and Jack's AU TwitterRP. Written in third, because an 11-year-old girl shouldn't be able to describe the destruction the way I wanted to. Some dialog borrowed from Jack's fic._

The car alarms were still ringing when the agents arrived, not entirely sure how to proceed. The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense had heard the rumors of a pyrokinetic, but there were quite honestly too many other things to worry about. Once again it was a case of being too late to the game. The neighborhood was smoldering and smoking, the remains of men, woman and children littered the ground. There was even the charred skeleton of a dog, smoke still swirling off the black bones.

Liz ran. It was the first time she felt that pure need for escape from everything, to get away for a situation entirely and completely. She picked herself up, small feet slipping on the sheet of glass that had formed from the playground sand she had been standing in when it happened. When she lost control. Liz ran until the fear overcame her. She had nowhere to go, no where safe and comforting, and though it's not something a normal little girl should ever have to think about, she wondered if there would ever be a moment in her life that she would feel safe again.

"Mom?" Liz pushed the door to her building over easily, the hinges barely holding the plank of burnt wood upright anymore. "Mommy?" She knew in an instant which corpse was her mothers. It wasn't that much different than any of the others that where in the area, but it was in her home, near where the kitchen table had been, where her mother liked to have coffee after work. Liz's eyes gushed tears as she turned to see a smaller frame, not a blacked skeleton like those who were close to her, but dead all the same, the skin and muscles almost shining with ash and blood. Her brother, she knew it just the same as she did her mothers body.

Liz could think of nothing to do to make it better, nothing to make it go away but to hide. She pulled herself into the corner of the kitchen, wrapping her arms around her knees as she buried her face in her knees. _Maybe if she wished hard enough, it would all just go away?_

A woman dressed in a simple suit with sunglasses protested when the man rushed past and tossed his coat at her. She wondered what on earth he was doing wearing a long heavy coat like that in July. It was hot as hell, even without the fire. Once she got a good look at the coat though, she knew exactly who he was. Trevor Broom's golden boy, the one they called in when things needed special attention of a more 'human' nature. She had no idea why that would be required for this case, though.

He was known simply as "The Captain" and the rumor was that Broom met him when Hellboy was brought though the portal in World War II. But that was impossible. He'd be much older than he is now. Perhaps it was his father, and he was simply carrying on the family 'business'. The only thing that was really certain in everyone's mind was, The Captain never went anywhere without that coat.

"I wouldn't go in there sir." It was true, she wouldn't. No one wanted to. Who knows what the hell caused all this destruction and death? It was like a bomb went off.

"I'll be alright." He looked back at the agent, and in spite of herself, she felt her cheeks flush as she smiled at him. No way was this guy in World War II, though his blue eyes seemed to be filled with an almost hidden sense of world-weary exhaustion. Maybe he was older than he looked, but there was no way he served with an old man like Trevor Broom. It was simply an impossible thing.

He was across the street in a moment, climbing though the doorframe to the Sherman family home after less than a second's hesitation. He stopped and surveyed the room, the sounds of the car alarms that had not been turned off filtering in from the distance. It didn't take long for him to hear the crying in the corner.

Liz knew someone was there, but she didn't lift her head. Not right way. They'd take her away; take her from her home where it was safe. She was wrong. She didn't want to escape, she wanted to be safe, and home was safe.

His voice hit her ears and she only cried harder. "It's alright sweetheart." He said calmly. It wasn't alright. Her family was dead, even he father who had been visiting, hoping to start to reconcile the differences that lead to the end of Liz's parents marriage just a few short months before.

The Captain moved a little closer as Liz picked her head up slightly, her small yet swollen with tears eyes just staring at him. She sat without movement for a few moments before she blinked and felt…comfort? How could she feel comfort at a time like this?

Liz sat up on her knees and nodded weakly, her eyes never leaving his. He was…good. She knew it, though she had no idea why. She trusted him instantly, slowly sliding on her knees a bit closer to him. He'd keep her safe; there was not a doubt in her mind of this. "I promise nothing bad will happen to you ever again." He said softly, meaning every word of it as he reached an arm out to her. She had her head buried against his shoulder a second later, not even noticing he had stood up and was carrying her away from her home, what was left of her home.

Liz's tears dripped over his shirt as he made his way back to the waiting car. He claimed his coat from the agent, whose mouth was hanging open in disbelief at the small child he held in his arm. They had expected a monster, a beast with fangs and a threatening growl, not a scared little girl. The Captain ducked into the car, half expecting the girl to let him go and cower as far away as she could, but she held him tight. He was the only source of comfort she had now, and she clung to it like her life depended on it.

Maybe it did. It was the first time that Captain Jack Harkness had been there, being the hero that Elizabeth Sherman needed. As things like this often go, it wouldn't be the last. Not by a long shot.


End file.
